What do you VALUE???

I’d like to talk about value, particularly the value of an art that I
hold near and dear to my heart: the art of photography. Yes, there is
the old adage that art is priceless, but when you’re running a
business like I am, one can’t help but having to place a value on the
finished product—or else what I do would merely be a hobby and nothing
more. Fortunately, I love what I do and every day I am thankful that I
get to spend my days photographing beautiful children, lovely
brides and happy families, but still, the question remains: what is
all of that worth?

I guess the real question is what is that photograph on your wall
really worth? What does that album tucked away in a safe place
really worth to you? And your wedding album? Is it something you’d like
to pass on to your children someday? Or maybe you have a box full of
old photos passed on to you like I do that sit in an old shoe box and
from time to time you can’t help but sit down and reflect on the
memories that all of those photos hold. For me, it’s real simple. I
ask myself this question: If there was a fire in my house, and I had
the chance to grab some valuable possessions (assuming my family was already safe),
what would it be?: My box full of albums, family videos and family photos. It’s
really a no-brainer for me.

Yes, I’m a photographer. Yes, this is what
I do for a living, but before I’m a photographer, I’m a mother and
wife and a daughter to my mother, and so on. In that box, is a
lifetime of memories, some of family members that have passed, and
some of memories I want to cherish for the rest of my life, because
let’s face it, as we grow older, our minds grow a little further away
from those memories with each passing year. It’s just the way that
life works, but I know that twenty or thirty years from now, I will
have my albums and endless photographs of my family, ones that I
will pass on to my daughter and my son. And so glad I did put myself in those photos... I doubt Madeleine will ever say." Gosh, Mom.. I wish you were 10 pounds lighter when we took that picture together when I was 4 years old" Highly unlikely.... ones that I’ll be able to sit
back with Chris and glance at the pictures from Tahiti and recall the
time we swam with the sharks in Tahiti or I’ll be able to revisit
Madeleine’s early years when she tasted her first orange and scrunched
up her face, or maybe I’ll be taken back to the time I took Ryder on a
mini-photo shoot around the block and all he could do was flash those
boyish dimples for me every ten steps. It’s all memories for me,
memories preserved in a album or on a wall or in a box. Memories,
that yes, are priceless to me and only to me. Memories that I wouldn’t
trade for the world.

So when we talk about the value of photography, I
often think of it in terms of a product that simply never decreases in
value. It’s the only true thing that I can think of that NEVER
depreciates in value. In fact, its value only increases as the years
pass, because in the end, the further we grow from past memories, the
more dependent we become on those things such as photographs to take
us back and help us to relive the special moments in our lives. I like
to think of photographs as the memories of our lives, and that’s why
I treasure (no, I value my job) so much, because I get to help others
preserve their own special memories.

So, I come back to my original question, and
it’s one that can only be answered by each individual. How much value
do you place on the beautiful moments of your own lives?


let me know your thoughts or comments below. I would like to hear what your most valuable possesions are..The latest ipod, your new coach purse, your plasma TV, the photo of you with your great grandmother or you holding your baby for the first time? Let me know...

~G